Becoming Like Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42)

A story about a crowded living room and a frantic kitchen ends up diagnosing one of the most common spiritual problems in modern life: doing good things while missing the best thing. We open Luke 10:38-42 with Jesus showing up unexpectedly at Martha’s home, and we watch two sisters respond in totally different ways. Mary sits at the Lord’s feet and listens. Martha welcomes everyone, works hard, and slowly gets pulled under by distraction, pressure, and the need for things to be done her way. 

We name what’s really happening beneath the surface: anxiety that masquerades as responsibility, pride that hijacks a genuine gift, and comparison that turns service into resentment. Martha’s words sting because they sound familiar: “Lord, do you not care… tell her to help me.” If you’ve ever felt irritated that other Christians don’t see needs like you do, don’t serve like you do, or don’t prioritize what you prioritize, this conversation puts language to that tension without shaming you. 

Then we slow down at Jesus’ response: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.” We talk about priorities, discipleship, spiritual disciplines, and the hard truth that it’s often easier to be occupied for Christ than to be occupied with Christ. We also connect the “good portion” to a sustaining spiritual meal, the kind of nourishment that lasts longer than today’s to-do list. 

We close with hope from John 12 and a simple vision for balance: keep serving, but do it from worship, not from control. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who feels overwhelmed, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. What’s your biggest “many things” distraction right now?

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Transcript

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A Sunday school teacher asked her kindergarten students what they would do if Jesus came to their home unexpectedly. A little boy raised his hand and said, Well, I'd put a Bible out on the coffee table. Well, that's a smart kid. Well, something like that actually happens in the record of Scripture. Today we're in Luke's Gospel again and at chapter 10, and the Lord unexpectedly shows up at a home in a small village. Well, as we go through this, let me break down this surprise visit into three scenes. And I want to call the first scene the invitation. It opens here in verse 38.

A Surprise Visit In Luke 10

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. Now also living in this house is Martha's sister Mary, their brother Lazarus, we met him elsewhere in the Gospels. He also lives here, but he isn't mentioned by Luke. It's possible he was away at the time. Well, when Martha welcomes Jesus into their home, she's also welcoming all his disciples, and there's going to be a lot of mouths to feed about now. Now, although the traditional full meal is not until later in the day, she's not about to serve crackers and cheese here. So her mind is already

Martha Welcomes Jesus Into Her Home

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racing through a million details all at once. And after everyone's settled and seated, Jesus begins teaching. Verse 39 tells us here that Mary sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. Now with that I want to move into the second scene. Let's call this the interruption. Verse 40 tells us that while Mary is listening to Jesus teach, Martha is distracted here with much serving. The word Luke uses for Martha being distracted means to literally be dragged away or pulled away mentally and emotionally. See, everybody else is enjoying the Lord's ministry, but Martha has been dragged away by this task that does matter, they do need to eat, but not at this moment. You see, Martha's actions weren't wrong. Her attitude was. Now apparently, up to the point when Jesus determined

Distracted Serving And A Bold Complaint

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it was time to teach, uh, Mary had been helping Martha with all the immediate needs of hospitality. But somewhere between chopping the cabbage and cleaning the carrots, Martha becomes aware that Mary's gone. She's disappeared. So she goes looking for her, and she spots her sitting, listening to Jesus. And Martha here literally walks over and interrupts the Lord's lecture, and she says to him, here in verse 40, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Well, Martha is being driven, obviously, by her temperament, her nature, what we might call her wiring. And her wiring is to show hospitality, to put on a feast. And she just can't bring herself to offer anybody a sandwich. It has to be a full meal, even though this is not the time of day for it. See, Martha is allowing her pride to govern her gift of hospitality. So here she is. She's pressing full steam ahead in her preparations and serving, and she's missing this incredible moment of learning at the feet of the king of the universe. However, there's another problem buried here in Martha's complaint that surfaces, and frankly, it surfaces in our own lives to this day. She says to Jesus here, tell her then to help me. You see, in essence, what she's saying is what I'm doing is more important than what my sister's doing. Lord, you need to make her serve you like I'm serving you. You need to make her see the need like I do. She needs to think like I do. Don't we at times complain to the Lord just like that? Lord, why can't other Christians think like I do? Why can't they see the needs out there like I do? Why can't they serve you like I'm serving you? This is the spirit of Martha. Now, Martha's passionate about serving her guests well. This is an important role, and she's no doubt really good at it. But the reality is she's focused more on herself and her tasks and her desire to serve in her way, and she's upset that Mary isn't lending a hand. Well, why isn't Mary helping her serve the guests in instead of sitting and and and listening? Well, there's a principle to learn here. Here it is. Our service to others and to the Lord can be spoiled by a self-centered spirit. See, Martha's suggesting that if Jesus cared about her, he would take her side and tell Mary to get up and leave the classroom and go back in the kitchen and help with the dishes. The original construction, by the way, of this complaint implies that she's expecting the Lord to agree with her. She's expecting the Lord to say, you know what? I hadn't thought about that, but you're right. Hey Mary, why don't you get up and go help your sister in the kitchen? But instead, the Lord moves us into what I'll call scene three, and this is what we could call the instruction here in verse forty one. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Now follow this. Martha's problem is focusing on something that at the moment doesn't matter as much as something else. Jesus is not telling her, Martha, everything you've been doing doesn't matter. Now he's saying, Martha, everything you've been doing is distracting you at this

One Thing Necessary: Fixing Priorities

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moment from something better. You love to serve, and yes, we need to eat. But right now we got a little worship service going on in the living room and you're missing out. See, this isn't a problem with her activity. This is a problem with her priority. And it isn't just about the physical meal she's cooking, as helpful as that is, and as much as they're going to enjoy it, it's about this the spiritual meal that Jesus is in the process of delivering. You see, the Lord is giving us all here a lesson in balance. There's a proper balance between working and worshiping. Beloved, there will always be a thousand responsibilities that are going to keep you from worshiping, sitting at the Lord's feet. See, this scene is included in God's word because the Lord knows we have the same little tug of war going on in our own lives between responsibilities and relationship. And often it's easier to be occupied for Christ than to be occupied with Christ. So Jesus says here in verse 42, Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. Now the Lord is making a play on words here. We need to understand the word for portion is the same word used for a portion of food. In other words, Jesus is saying, Martha, while you're focusing on the portion of food you're providing, Mary is focusing on the meal, the portion of food I'm providing. And it's a meal that's going to sustain you throughout life. Now I find it interesting that we're not told what happened next, but we have every reason to believe that Martha was moved by the rather tender instruction and invitation from the Lord, and about now she sat down next to her sister and received this meal, this word from her Lord. Well, did she learn to serve him with a better attitude? Did she learn to prioritize differently? Did she learn to serve him without expecting others to serve him in the same way? We have a clue over in John chapter twelve, and this is a text where Jesus is going to visit their home one last time. We're told that his twelve disciples are with them, and Lazarus has joined his two sisters this time. So their little house is packed again, and it's it's supper time. John says here in verse two, so they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served. Mary took a pound of expensive ointment and anointed the feet of Jesus. Martha is still Martha. And Mary

A Better Balance At The Last Supper

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was still Mary, different, unique, but both are lovingly serving their Lord with their own special wiring, their gift, their contribution. But at this meal, this time, Martha gave not one word of complaint. Beloved, I think we ought to be a little more like both of these women. In fact, Charles Wesley, uh the hymn writer, penned some lines of poetry based on this scene, and his hymn called for balance between adopting the best of both Mary's and Martha's service. Some of the lyrics go like this Faithful to my Lord's commands, I will choose the better part. Serve with Martha's hands and listen with Mary's heart. Let's follow that advice. Let's fulfill our responsibilities to the Lord. But at the same time, let's not forget our relationship with the Lord. Let's enjoy our relationship with him and go about our responsibilities as we serve him. Let's serve him and worship him today. Well, until we set sail again on our wisdom journey, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.